The goalie conversation is an interesting thing I talk about all the time as a former lacrosse goalie.
Lacrosse, I believe, is the hardest skill set for being a goalie - and I know that sounds biased, but hear me out. Ice hockey is around 92%, and lacrosse - at least men's - is around 50%. These are both high volume shot games, but the difference is two parts: one is size, and two is plane. Firstly, Hockey goalies take up a large portion of the net severaley padded, most saves coming as stops or ricochets off of a stick or pad. The hockey goal is also much shorter, allowing the goalie to not need to take up taller portions of the net. Lacrosse has a 6’x6’ net where the goalie clearly does not fill up that entire space well and constantly has to readjust their position to put themself in front of the most statistically likely shot, which brings me to plane.
Hockey always begins from the ground/ice, so there are three shot options: low-low, low-mid, or low-high. And, again, the dimensions of the hockey net are a lot shorter than most, so the “high” and “mid” options are covered in less space. Because of the manipulation of the ball with the stick and in men’s the depth of the pocket, we get a potential wild combination of shot prospects, with nine different combinations (3 low beginnings, 3 mid beginnings, 3 high beginnings), none of which, ever look the same and can end up anywhere. Then, when you factor in bounce shots which can also end up all over the place, it truly becomes bizarre.
The average soccer goalie save percentage is around 69 (nice)-70% and field hockey is ~80%. But again, these shots always start from the ground. And yes, there are of course bad bounces and headers and what not, but those are outliers. You also have to factor in water polo, which is around the same percentage as lacrosse, and I physically cannot grasp how they do what they do. However, the thing with these three sports, unlike hockey and lacrosse, are the wildly low amount of shots taken per game. Yes, water polo has some of the same manipulation by hand the lacrosse does, but it at least starts at water surface level always.
This leaves team handball, with the absurdly low rate of 35%. Very similarly to lacrosse, there is insane shot probability and manipulation to be done by the shooter. Now, it is ridiculous to expect people to save balls the size of mini soccer balls in front of a goal that is almost the size of a soccer net. Obviously they take on a tremendous amount of shots per game and that is before considering any penalty shots. But this, I feel, is a deciding factor: distance. In lacrosse, there is approximately a 3’ radius from the center of the net. Any offensive player can creep up on the goalie for a one on one and deke them out in atrocious fashion (I have been on the end of this one too many times). In handball, the goalie’s zone is 6 meters - nearly 20 ft away - from the goal line. And yes, with jumping that length gets shortened, but that distance is a complete advantage as compared to having someone right on top of you scoring.
That is all to say I stand by lacrosse goalie’s having the hardest job of any goalie in all of sports and the way we fix American handball is by recruiting former lacrosse goalies - who are used to being thinly padded against 100mph dense rubber shots with great reaction time and vision to lead us to the promised land. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
What's not to like about your column? Asking to fix the volleyball scoring really made my day. I am not an American, but your column is a must-read. Thanks
I don’t know if you have to write these so fast you confused Mario Cristobal for Manny Diaz in the French Handball section or if Miami’s coaches have had so many blunders I’m just forgetting when Manny Diaz also made a terrible call, and the fact that I’m not sure is hilarious to me.
there's a lot i'll remember about this olympics in a good way - the 100m finish, simone biles, guatemala, saint lucia, and dominica getting gold, marchand - but Vinesh Phogat's weigh in is also something I'll remember. It's a shame. The WFI owns this. Phogat not making weight is a fair reason for DQing, but not giving her the silver she (everyone thought) had ensured - just heartbreaking. I really wish UWW and the IOC change their rules, and give her a silver - she won those matches on day 1, she made weight, she earned silver. She was DQ'ed on day 2 not for cheating or doping, but because she couldn't make weight. she deserves a silver.
“Do people win in road and track cycling” is a perfect entry and I totally slept on it because I thought it happens all the time!!!! I know Bradley Wiggins won in both but apparently not in the same Olympics
The goalie conversation is an interesting thing I talk about all the time as a former lacrosse goalie.
Lacrosse, I believe, is the hardest skill set for being a goalie - and I know that sounds biased, but hear me out. Ice hockey is around 92%, and lacrosse - at least men's - is around 50%. These are both high volume shot games, but the difference is two parts: one is size, and two is plane. Firstly, Hockey goalies take up a large portion of the net severaley padded, most saves coming as stops or ricochets off of a stick or pad. The hockey goal is also much shorter, allowing the goalie to not need to take up taller portions of the net. Lacrosse has a 6’x6’ net where the goalie clearly does not fill up that entire space well and constantly has to readjust their position to put themself in front of the most statistically likely shot, which brings me to plane.
Hockey always begins from the ground/ice, so there are three shot options: low-low, low-mid, or low-high. And, again, the dimensions of the hockey net are a lot shorter than most, so the “high” and “mid” options are covered in less space. Because of the manipulation of the ball with the stick and in men’s the depth of the pocket, we get a potential wild combination of shot prospects, with nine different combinations (3 low beginnings, 3 mid beginnings, 3 high beginnings), none of which, ever look the same and can end up anywhere. Then, when you factor in bounce shots which can also end up all over the place, it truly becomes bizarre.
The average soccer goalie save percentage is around 69 (nice)-70% and field hockey is ~80%. But again, these shots always start from the ground. And yes, there are of course bad bounces and headers and what not, but those are outliers. You also have to factor in water polo, which is around the same percentage as lacrosse, and I physically cannot grasp how they do what they do. However, the thing with these three sports, unlike hockey and lacrosse, are the wildly low amount of shots taken per game. Yes, water polo has some of the same manipulation by hand the lacrosse does, but it at least starts at water surface level always.
This leaves team handball, with the absurdly low rate of 35%. Very similarly to lacrosse, there is insane shot probability and manipulation to be done by the shooter. Now, it is ridiculous to expect people to save balls the size of mini soccer balls in front of a goal that is almost the size of a soccer net. Obviously they take on a tremendous amount of shots per game and that is before considering any penalty shots. But this, I feel, is a deciding factor: distance. In lacrosse, there is approximately a 3’ radius from the center of the net. Any offensive player can creep up on the goalie for a one on one and deke them out in atrocious fashion (I have been on the end of this one too many times). In handball, the goalie’s zone is 6 meters - nearly 20 ft away - from the goal line. And yes, with jumping that length gets shortened, but that distance is a complete advantage as compared to having someone right on top of you scoring.
That is all to say I stand by lacrosse goalie’s having the hardest job of any goalie in all of sports and the way we fix American handball is by recruiting former lacrosse goalies - who are used to being thinly padded against 100mph dense rubber shots with great reaction time and vision to lead us to the promised land. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
It's been confirmed that Hall "strained his leg" in the race WHERE HE CAME FROM BEHIND to win gold. You can't outrun a dog.
https://x.com/ChrisChavez/status/1821607139170824557
The last 10 seconds of Brooks vs. Ramazanov!
A day so packed we didn't even get to the first US men's weightlifting medal since 1984! From a dude who trains in his parents' garage! What a Games https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2024/08/07/hampton-morris-weightlifting-olympic-medal/74702717007/
They need to spread the successes out! Hampton would’ve been A1 on some of these days
What's not to like about your column? Asking to fix the volleyball scoring really made my day. I am not an American, but your column is a must-read. Thanks
Thanks Ola, where are you from? I have a few days to get an entry in about (insert your homeland here)
I was out of town where I didn't have access to the internet. I am Nigerian but I live in Ghana, West Africa. Apologies for the late response.
I don’t know if you have to write these so fast you confused Mario Cristobal for Manny Diaz in the French Handball section or if Miami’s coaches have had so many blunders I’m just forgetting when Manny Diaz also made a terrible call, and the fact that I’m not sure is hilarious to me.
OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOO
thanks for catching it
Fixing
Quincy Hall had to run thru Manny Diaz - but that's ok because Diaz can't stop the run
there's a lot i'll remember about this olympics in a good way - the 100m finish, simone biles, guatemala, saint lucia, and dominica getting gold, marchand - but Vinesh Phogat's weigh in is also something I'll remember. It's a shame. The WFI owns this. Phogat not making weight is a fair reason for DQing, but not giving her the silver she (everyone thought) had ensured - just heartbreaking. I really wish UWW and the IOC change their rules, and give her a silver - she won those matches on day 1, she made weight, she earned silver. She was DQ'ed on day 2 not for cheating or doping, but because she couldn't make weight. she deserves a silver.
Asking to fix the volleyball scoring, by the way, is unlikely to happen. But your enthusiasm, and patriotism made me laugh...
That's a great question! According to this article, a Dutch rider won a gold in track and road cycling in 2000, and that's the only other woman. I couldn't find anything about it ever happening on the men's side. https://www.teamusa.com/news/2024/august/07/team-usa-is-golden-in-women-s-team-pursuit-kristen-faulkner-becomes-first-u-s-woman-to-win-olympic-gold-in-two-different-disciplines#:~:text=With%20two%20Olympic%20gold%20medals,at%20a%20single%20Olympic%20Games.
“Do people win in road and track cycling” is a perfect entry and I totally slept on it because I thought it happens all the time!!!! I know Bradley Wiggins won in both but apparently not in the same Olympics